One Richmond trip later...

Visited in-laws, and the botanical garden in Richmond, VA. T'was a rather nice, relaxing trip without too much to think about. Recently, time has been in short supply, but here's a run-through of the most recent reads. 

Book-wise--

Audio.

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls.
9/10
  A biography of the author's grandmother growing up in the quasi-wild west; a captivating story with a decent narrator, to boot.

Animal Magnetism by Rita Mae Brown
1/10
 The second the narrator (who needed some voice lessons) mentioned psychic communication, I turned off the CD player, took out the CD and moaned inwardly about the time wasted listening to this junk.

Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolution by T. J. English
7/10
 So-so narration, but a captivating subject. Real mobsters, intrigue, murders.. Who -wouldn't- want to listen to this?  


Telegraph Days by Larry McMurtry
5/10
 I'm a huge fan of McMurtry's Lonesome Dove series, yet this one-off grated on me. The guy suffers from Tolkien syndrome, meaning that he can't write three-dimensional female characters worth a crap. Basically, the main character had sex on her mind all day, every day. It was just a little sad. 


Physical.


Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil by Tom Mueller
8/10
  A good, solid read along the lines of "Salt, a World History". If this book doesn't get you started on using authentic olive oil, nothing will. (On that note, this book made me appreciate the local artisan olive oil place all the more. After reading this, you could actually tell a little about what real olive oil was supposed to taste like, and they definitely carried that.)


Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook
  6/10
 For some strange reason, this book never managed to capture my interest. It does document tomato growth and politics in Florida, which -should-, in theory, be a pretty interesting subject.